Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) Short Interest Up 38.9% in January

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:PB) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 3,980,071 shares, a growth of 38.9% from the January 15th total of 2,865,066 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,548,725 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,548,725 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Prosperity Bancshares Price Performance

Prosperity Bancshares stock traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,692,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,643. Prosperity Bancshares has a twelve month low of $61.06 and a twelve month high of $79.03. The firm has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.45.

Prosperity Bancshares (NYSE:PB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $317.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.30 million. Prosperity Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 31.22%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Prosperity Bancshares will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prosperity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Prosperity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered Prosperity Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Prosperity Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Prosperity Bancshares from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Prosperity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Prosperity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prosperity Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ned S. Holmes sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.59, for a total transaction of $39,354.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,826,929. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leah Henderson sold 1,050 shares of Prosperity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $76,650.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $589,475. This represents a 11.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 16,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,145,403 in the last three months. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prosperity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Prosperity Bancshares by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,256,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $708,856,000 after buying an additional 140,035 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,580,039 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $373,231,000 after acquiring an additional 343,062 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,784,022 shares of the bank’s stock worth $317,416,000 after acquiring an additional 28,994 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Prosperity Bancshares by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,679,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $254,316,000 after acquiring an additional 15,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Prosperity Bancshares by 43.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,421,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $226,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,246 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prosperity Bancshares Company Profile

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc is a holding company for Prosperity Bank, offering a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Through its network of branches and digital platforms, the company provides deposit products, business and real estate lending, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, as well as wealth management and trust services.

Originally chartered in 1911 as First National Bank in McKinney, Texas, the organization rebranded to Prosperity Bank in 2009 following a series of strategic acquisitions aimed at deepening its regional presence.